Page 7 - Robert Moffit News Today

Congress is under pressure to act on a Medicare shortfall of several billion dollars when it returns from the midterm elections, amid fears of health care shortages for seniors.

Supporters of John Kerry's health-care plan insist that the senator has no intention of launching a "government takeover" of medicine.

Imagine selecting your own health plan, rather than simply accepting the one your employer picks for you. Picture a plan that you own -- that follows you from job to job and place to place.

"It's absolutely essential that the House and the Senate resolvetheir differences and enact a piece of legislation that I can sign.… We must keep the promise of Medicare by giving our seniorsbetter coverage and better choices."

Washington lawmakers are floating the idea of a "demonstrationprogram" that would give seniors more choices by allowing privatehealth plans to compete directly for their business in a fewselected cities and one region of the country.

Table 1: Law Enforcement Officers Killed, 1978-94Table 2: Offenses Known to Police Cleared by Arrest, 1972-93Table 3: COPS Grants Do Not Go To Areas Hardest Hit by Crime

BG1123:  Congress's Own Health Plan As A Model For MedicareReform

Members of Congress, their staffs, and approximately 9 millionother federal workers, retirees, and their families in the42-year-old Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) are,unlike most Americans, able to choose a plan that best meets theirneeds from almost 200 private options nationwide, includingfee-for-service, preferred provider organization, and managed careplans, and those sponsored by unions and employee organizations.

BG1445ES: Why Adopting the "Common Ground" Health Care ProposalWould Be a Costly Mistake

The House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 4012, a bill to permanently change the way physicians are paid through the Medicare program, by a vote of 238–181. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the changes would cost $138 billion over the first ten years. The House bill pays for the Medicare changes by placing a five-year delay on the heinous Obamacare individual mandate that forces every American to have health insurance, netting $169.5 billion.